Junky

Hi all,
I went out with @ellicat (Brian) for a session around Macleay and Peel Island last Friday. We launched at 6:30AM at Victoria Point and we were fishing before 7:00AM at one of Brian's spots at Macleay. It wasn't long before Brian had caught a legal snap, but unfortunately after this we got sharked several times (and landed a couple more undersize fish). We stayed here for a while longer but eventually decided to head to a spot at Peel Island. 
We said hi to @Another Wazza quickly before starting a drift with some plastics and vibes. The weather was pretty good and it was around tide change, but I only managed two grinners on a soft vibe. We repeated the same and different drifts a couple more times but it was to no avail. Additionally, the wind picked up slightly as well as the tide so we decided to go back to Macleay to try there again. 
The anchor was deployed and I chucked over a fresh strip of grinner. It wasn't long before I was on, but it was pretty obvious I was on a ray after a few fast runs. I actually got this one up to the boat, but seeing as though it was gut hooked we cut the line and got rid of it. I hooked another one shortly after but the bite was pretty quiet for the most part.
To finish up the day, we decided to do a couple of drifts around Macleay. This produced a few bites and one undersize snap for Brian, so a bit after 2 we headed back to the ramp and called it a day. Brian let me have the snapper and it tasted good.  Thanks again for taking me out on the boat Brian, it was lots of fun. 
Thanks for reading, 
Cheers Hamish

Grab a pair of pointy nose pliers, and keep them on you when lure fishing.
You need to slightly, emphasis on slightly, bend the little metal ring to the left or right on the nose of the lure. This is the ring that you would attach a split ring to.  
Start with a slight adjustment to the left and swim the lure. 
If it's worse, go back the other way. If it's getting better, make another adjustment the same way. 
You will eventually have it swimming dead straight, however it may take several adjustments to achieve. 
It's not uncommon to have to tune a lure to swim correctly. 

Grab a pair of pointy nose pliers, and keep them on you when lure fishing.
You need to slightly, emphasis on slightly, bend the little metal ring to the left or right on the nose of the lure. This is the ring that you would attach a split ring to.  
Start with a slight adjustment to the left and swim the lure. 
If it's worse, go back the other way. If it's getting better, make another adjustment the same way. 
You will eventually have it swimming dead straight, however it may take several adjustments to achieve. 
It's not uncommon to have to tune a lure to swim correctly. 

Grab a pair of pointy nose pliers, and keep them on you when lure fishing.
You need to slightly, emphasis on slightly, bend the little metal ring to the left or right on the nose of the lure. This is the ring that you would attach a split ring to.  
Start with a slight adjustment to the left and swim the lure. 
If it's worse, go back the other way. If it's getting better, make another adjustment the same way. 
You will eventually have it swimming dead straight, however it may take several adjustments to achieve. 
It's not uncommon to have to tune a lure to swim correctly. 

Ideally up Karumba way... 
Minimum 6kg baitcaster or 7kg spin, or both. 😜
 
Never really into fly but I reckon you'll have fun on the smaller barra and you may also get a few jacks as well. 
 
 

Ideally up Karumba way... 
Minimum 6kg baitcaster or 7kg spin, or both. 😜
 
Never really into fly but I reckon you'll have fun on the smaller barra and you may also get a few jacks as well. 
 
 

Hi All.
Overcast & grey morning.
We didn't have our new recruit, so we headed for the rocks at sunrise.
Calm water which was good.
Started with a bonito. These fish like a fight. Tested my new Penn 6000 conflict reel. Works well.
We ended up with 4 snapper 42 to 48cm. We let the bonito go. Caught 3 of them. Also caught  2 tailor ( released )
Bait was fresh squid & Metal lures. I had a new lure a Nomad Ridgeback 40g. Tailor seem to like them.
Off to breakfast at the Norah Head coffee shop.
Top morning. Lots of laughs. These teenagers are really into rock fishing, even if their Mother's do not approve.
Cheers.

Also keep in mind that a crook battery can kill a good battery in a parallel setup. 

Also keep in mind that a crook battery can kill a good battery in a parallel setup. 

Also keep in mind that a crook battery can kill a good battery in a parallel setup. 

Also keep in mind that a crook battery can kill a good battery in a parallel setup. 

Is this only happening at night, or is this when it's noticed? 
 
Have you swapped over the power supplies to each fridge, checking to see that the same power supply is failing, or the same fridge is failing?
 
Have you thoroughly checked all the connections between the fridges and the batteries?
 
Sounds to me like a poor connection. 
 
Disclaimer.... This is assuming your batteries are in top order, your engine is putting out approx 14v when underway, and your solar is connected up correctly with an anchor light and some lights music to calm the night.
 
There are no sound systems cranking out Metallica till all hours, television, stern lights on and the deck flood lights ablaze.  
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi all,
 
Was hoping to wait until the photo issue was rectified but some of you may enjoy the story regardless.
 
On 7th Dec with a very fully loaded car and trailer we jumped on the morning MiCat to Moreton Island with 21 nights of relaxation in my favourite place to look forward to.  I let the tyres down as far as I dare with the load on, had the obligatory smiley pie and coffee and soon we were on the beach at Tangalooma.  After a bit of a challenge getting to the top of middle road, we had a beautiful run up the eastern beach towards cape moreton.  Unfortunately, I was pretty much run off the road by a peanut coming down the hill from the lighthouse and the trailer then developed a mind of its own when trying to reverse out and I ended up needing to deploy the recovery boards to get me back on the straight and narrow and have another crack at the hill.  No dramas the second time and we were soon picking out a site at North Point campground.  A few hours of work followed and soon we had a camp set  up that would survive anything but the worst weather in a fairly shady and sheltered corner of the campground.
 
Next morning I was up at early AM and went for a bit of a walk around to check the gutters on the beach and all that, had a cast but wasn't successful.  After breakfast we headed off down the beach with the kids to some beautiful little low tide gutters that were about knee deep and calm.  While playing around, I noticed some birds circling in the surf break and then saw some fishy-shapes chasing bait in the waves.  I grabbed the only rod I had with me (the 2-4kg flick stick with 10lb) and threw a 20g halco twisty on.  Second cast I was away.  After a very good argument on the light gear, I had the first fish tacos of the trip sorted with a 53cm tailor.  About an hour later he was sizzling away in a frypan back at camp.
 
Next few days were a bit tough on the fishing front.  Early morning starts up the rocks spinning were mildly successful, however, I did work out I could put the little fella in his backpack carrier and take him along with me.  And the best part was he absolutely loved it... well.... for the first 90 minutes or so anyway. But was still pretty cool hanging out with him and managing to catch a couple of fish along the way. 
 
Morning 4 was a complete bust on the fishing front, could not get a hit on a slug or a plastic anywhere so I was walking back across kind of a swampy section near camp and my morning took a massive turn - for the good!  There at my feet was my lunch, now if I could just get hold of him with all 10 fingers still in tact...  A few interesting moments and near misses later and eventually I had my prize - a 1.7kg full as buck muddie.  Even the young fella appreciated this - I held it up to show him which was met with a "Wooooowwwwww" from him.  Glad I had strapped him in to the backpack well though.  A crab wrap for lunch was a very unexpected but welcome addition to the menu that's for sure.  After the crab wrap, during the midday nap period, I went for a walk down to the rocks given the swell was picking up a bit and landed 3 mid 40's tailor in the first three casts.  Then a surfer paddled right over where the fish were sitting, sat there was a minute and then paddled off again.  Needless to say, the fish disappeared thereafter.  Maybe the surfer was a vegan or something and that was his idea of a protest.  Still, three tailor was ample for dinner.
 
Next day I had collected some pippies and headed over to a favourite rock fishing spot of mine, however, it was very quiet but I managed to pull three nice dart out, the best one going 43cm.  There's another dinner sorted!
 
After 7 days, the outlaws headed home and were replaced by @ellicat and my mum.  After a new false starts, ECat and I finally found where the flathead were hiding.  I was first on the board with a lovely 63cm model.  While it was only 1 or 2 each time we tried the spot, they were all quality fish in the mid 50's.
 
The weather finally became good enough for me to try a kayak trip which saw me throw the tub in early and head on out.  It took me a while to to find them but I managed 3 snapper 43-49cm, one just legal spangled and a 38cm grassy.  I then hooked something huge that had me scrambling to get on top of it to try and pull it out of the rocky rubbly bottom.  A good battle ensued and a stud 53cm grassy surfaced, much to ECat's distain as he is yet to crack the 50cm mark on a grassy and I have now 4 times in his presence.  Sorry mate - oh wait, no I'm not... 😛   I headed back in and watched ECat land a legal flatty from the beach as I was coming back in.
 
All too soon, ECat had to head home - hope you had a good trip mate.  Glad you got to witness the might BT50 recovering a brand spanking 300 series jsut before getting on the barge - that was a bit of fun. 😉
The day after he left, it was forecast to be 20kn+ northerlies but they never showed up and the ocean completely glassed out around lunch time.  I grabbed the kayak and headed out, not knowing the carnage that was about to unfold.
 
Things started slowly, it took me a good 1/2 hr before I got my first decent hit - and what a hit it was.  Ripped 20lb line off the reel under fairly heavy drag and ended up busting me off on the rubbly bottom about 100m away, my best guess was a GT or a kingy - or so i thought... maybe another culprit was to blame as will soon be revealed. I soon after I found a patch with some nice snapper, and put three 40-48cm models and a bonus grassy into the box.  I tried a different area and first cast hooked the 3:14 express from central that had me chasing after it flat out while it peeled line from the reel.  Surely this couldn't be a shark, I would have been busted off ages ago... what could this be?  After about 10 minutes I got sight of the fish and about 10 minutes after that I had 85cm of cobia doing it's best to escape from under my legs on the kayak.  A very quick brain spike and bleed and a louder than necessary yahoo and then a minute to recover, check leader, plastic etc and we were back into it.  Next cast a 43cm grassy came to play.  Followed shortly after by a cracking 55cm snapper that gave me a real run around and completed my bag out.  I decided that was enough and just one more cast... wholly hell.  Seconds after the lure hitting the water two things happened.  A manta ray surfaced just near where my lure landed and my rod was just about ripped out of my hands.  For a second I thought I had hooked the manta but it zigged and whatever i had zagged.  Knowing cobia love hanging around mantas i quickly worked my way out over sand and settled in for the battle.  This one was far heavier and more stubborn than the first one and was slugging it out down deep, I would make a metre of line and he would take 2 back.  This went on and on.  About 1/2 hour later I finally had the fish yakside - now how the hell do I land this thing?  I ended up tailing it and lifting by the line as well and got it on my lap.  A quick spike and bleed and a rather nose heavy and slimy, bloody kayak headed back to the beach.  The big cobia went 110cm - not huge by cobia standards sure but everything seems bigger on a floating bit of plastic.  It also meant a double bag out for the first time ever on the yak.
 
At this point I will mention that ECat had been kind enough to loan me his 60L freezer which was a very welcome item in the campsite after such a trip - on top of my 80L fridge/freezer.  approx 11kg of fillets were recovered from the days captures - a day of kayak fishing I will not forget in a hurry.
 
Other than that day, a few more nice flatties found their way into the box but the fishing effort was rather half hearted - I was happy to finish on a high.
 
Roast turkey and potato bake made for an awesome Xmas dinner, plenty of time spent with the small people at the beach.  Luckily, we only copped one storm on Xmas eve with a fair bit of wind and 57mm of rain in 1/2 hour, got the edge of a few others but nothing too bad.  Everything stayed standing and dry on the inside at least.
 
All too soon - even after such an extended stay - we were packing up and heading back to the MiCat for the trip home.  Middle road had washouts about 1/2m deep in some spots from the storms the previous two days which was pretty crazy to see.
 
I will attempt to add some photos when the site is fixed if people are interested, I didn't take heaps but there's a few that people might like.
 
Hope you enjoyed the read, I tried not to make it too long.
 
Cheers,
Benno <'><
 
 
 
 
 
 

Well the stars finally aligned. 
Got out last Thursday 21th. 
D.I. 
2 POB's. 
Conditions were good, but very bumpy on top of a meter swell, light S.E winds, that increased in the afternoon. 
Bugger all current. Up to 2kph, so target species would be hard to entice. 
No run, no fun. 

 
Mixed bag. 
Target was red fish but no sized fish onboard. All fish tank models or just unders. Could see them down there though. Night time bite me thinks. 
 
Got a nice snap, bit under 70cm, with about 10 caught all day. We only kept one though. Others were up to 50cm. 
Rounded up a few blue bone in the mix. 
Then I got onto a nice scaffolder cod, which came home for tea. I forgot how good they are on the chew. 
 
Pearlies are everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Haven't seen it like that for a long time. 
I hope it's a reflection of the closed season. Hard to dig though for sized fish but managed 5.
They are extremely thick in numbers. Every reef I stopped at had an abundance. I stopped fishing because I didn't want to keep catching unders. Had enough in the esky anyway. 
 
I did see some Spanish swim though mid water, and I did put out some lures, with no luck. My go to qantas deep diver is broken, and that lure is a Spanish lollipop.
They weren't playing the game either. 
 
 
Plastics and vibes were very quiet, as were the trolling lures. 
Pillies mullet and squid were dynamite for the reefies, as to be expected. 
I say this quietly, no sharks???
Had a pod of 20odd dolphins hanging around at times but a good 2k speed run to the next reef saw them tire off and leave us alone. Maybe that's why the sharks were absent. 
Drew at Gardiner's fisheries in rainbow Beach supplied the A grade bait yet again, and the shop has been extended which is good to see. Get your bait the day before if you're going out before 7am.. 
 
Hopefully this weather comes good for Jan 1st. 
 
Cheers. 

It will be fine. 
We used to do Fraser every year and those motors would only get flushed on the final day as we were leaving. 
 

It will be fine. 
We used to do Fraser every year and those motors would only get flushed on the final day as we were leaving. 
 

It will be fine. 
We used to do Fraser every year and those motors would only get flushed on the final day as we were leaving. 
 

It will be fine. 
We used to do Fraser every year and those motors would only get flushed on the final day as we were leaving. 
 

No risk at all. Just give it a really good flush when you get home. I have been on trips where the motor went for a few weeks without flushing and had no dramas. Lots of working boats have outboards that live in the water without regular flushing and last for thousands of hours. Having said that, I flush mine after every use if at all possible. Enjoy Turkey Beach and don’t forget the crab pots. 

Hello again,
second post in a about a week, and its a good one.  went out fishing on friday, the plan was to hit the fads again, and shoot some mahi mahi, troll some skirts and bag out.  but it did not go to plan, woke up at 2:30 and was on the water at 4.  weather was looking good coming out of the passage able to cruise at 50km/h, got around the corner and it changed.  was probably only 1-1.5m swell but it was all chop and in a 4.8 tinny it was rough.  managed to push to moreton and get some cover and tried to jig up some livies at the beacon.  wasnt able to get anything except a large baitfish about 30cm.  started puching it out to the fad but before we got around the point of moreton, saw large schools of the biggest longtail tuna i have ever seen.  cast stickbaits at them for about 30min with no luck, so just started drifting in about 30m of water.  pulled up 3 nice snapper on pillies and the fish bin was looking good.  after the 3rd drift the reel with the live on took off.  had to pull in 4 lines and by the time i was on the rod i was nearly on backing, and had to gain back about 300m of line.  after a long 15-20min fight i got colour.  it was a large longtail.  we gutted and bled it on the boat and towed it backwards for about 15mins after gutting and bleeding it get all of the blood out.  started to leave and head home at about 6:30.  i packed the gut cavity with ice and lay wet towels over it.  on the way home got more ice and a large fish cooler bag to put it in.  weighed and meaured it when i got home, the final length was 128.5cm and over 18kg.  ended up getting more than 12kg of meat off it, probably could have got more out of it but dad and i have never filleted a fish like that, it wont go to waste tho as we will use it for crab bait.
cheers dan 

Well the stars finally aligned. 
Got out last Thursday 21th. 
D.I. 
2 POB's. 
Conditions were good, but very bumpy on top of a meter swell, light S.E winds, that increased in the afternoon. 
Bugger all current. Up to 2kph, so target species would be hard to entice. 
No run, no fun. 

 
Mixed bag. 
Target was red fish but no sized fish onboard. All fish tank models or just unders. Could see them down there though. Night time bite me thinks. 
 
Got a nice snap, bit under 70cm, with about 10 caught all day. We only kept one though. Others were up to 50cm. 
Rounded up a few blue bone in the mix. 
Then I got onto a nice scaffolder cod, which came home for tea. I forgot how good they are on the chew. 
 
Pearlies are everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Haven't seen it like that for a long time. 
I hope it's a reflection of the closed season. Hard to dig though for sized fish but managed 5.
They are extremely thick in numbers. Every reef I stopped at had an abundance. I stopped fishing because I didn't want to keep catching unders. Had enough in the esky anyway. 
 
I did see some Spanish swim though mid water, and I did put out some lures, with no luck. My go to qantas deep diver is broken, and that lure is a Spanish lollipop.
They weren't playing the game either. 
 
 
Plastics and vibes were very quiet, as were the trolling lures. 
Pillies mullet and squid were dynamite for the reefies, as to be expected. 
I say this quietly, no sharks???
Had a pod of 20odd dolphins hanging around at times but a good 2k speed run to the next reef saw them tire off and leave us alone. Maybe that's why the sharks were absent. 
Drew at Gardiner's fisheries in rainbow Beach supplied the A grade bait yet again, and the shop has been extended which is good to see. Get your bait the day before if you're going out before 7am.. 
 
Hopefully this weather comes good for Jan 1st. 
 
Cheers. 

Hi All,
They wanted to go fishing & bring a Mate along who hadn't been fishing before. So I had to set up 4 rods around 7ft to 8ft plus reels
Just what I needed. I said the Rocks were out. Their Mothers were happy.
We arrived at the Entrance just before sunrise & the crowds. This place has a wharf so it is popular with children.
Flathead territory, also whiting & bream.
The go is to fish under the roadway bridge away from the crowds.
We ended up with 6 flathead, 2 whiting & I caught 2 bream. Puppy will be happy.
Bait was Blood worms, squid & nippers.
The new guy learnt very quickly. He caught 2 fish.
Top morning. Lots of laughs.
We left around 9am. The crowds were arriving.
Cheers.

Have a good day to all at AFO. 
Hope Santa coughed up some beauties for you. 
 
 
I myself am proud to say that I am having my first dry Christmas/New year break in about 30 odd years. 
Here's to many more...🫗

Great read as usual Hamish. 
Sharks are a great way of clean the cobwebs from reel drag systems. 
Bit of sweetwater thrown in as well. Good to see you're mixing up your fishing. It's amazing where bass get to in the creeks around SEQ. 
 
Got to say mate, your father is a dead set champion of a bloke. Fearless too. You'll learn lots from that man. 

Have a good day to all at AFO. 
Hope Santa coughed up some beauties for you. 
 
 
I myself am proud to say that I am having my first dry Christmas/New year break in about 30 odd years. 
Here's to many more...🫗